OpenAI may push its initial public offering into 2027, according to a report from the New York Times, dragging chip stocks lower on Friday as investors recalibrated the timeline for the AI company's market debut. The delay signals a potential retreat from a $1 trillion valuation target, renewing concerns about whether the sector's lofty valuations can withstand market scrutiny.
OpenAI's IPO calculus
OpenAI confidentially filed its S-1 paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 8. At the time, the company said it hadn't decided on timing for its public debut because "there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company." The filing also gave it the option to go public sooner if that route proved better.
The New York Times report suggests the company is weighing two paths: launch this year at a valuation below $1 trillion, or hold off until 2027 for a better shot at hitting that threshold. In March, OpenAI's post-money valuation stood at $852 billion. Rival Anthropic, which filed its own confidential IPO paperwork on June 1, was last valued at $965 billion.
Market ripple effects
The IPO delay halted a brief rally in memory stocks that had started Thursday after Micron's blowout earnings. Micron exceeded analysts' expectations on revenue and profit and delivered better-than-anticipated forward guidance. Qualcomm also announced a new data center product line on Wednesday, projecting $15 billion in data center revenue for its fiscal 2029.
Those announcements temporarily eased AI bubble fears, but the mood soured again on Friday. The report pointed to the recent performance of SpaceX shares as a cautionary tale: the stock surged past $225 after opening at $150, but then slid back to $151 as of early Friday. Since going public, SpaceX has announced the acquisition of AI coding tool Cursor and raised $25 billion via a bond sale.
Why this matters for finance professionals
The uncertainty around OpenAI's IPO timeline reflects a broader market skepticism about AI valuations. The whipsaw in SpaceX's stock shows that even high-profile tech listings can lose momentum quickly, making timing critical for investors. The memory chip rally, while positive, wasn't enough to sustain confidence once the IPO report landed.
For finance professionals, these shifts underscore the importance of tracking AI sector sentiment and its impact on portfolio allocations. Finance professionals tracking the AI market's impact on valuations may find training on AI for Finance useful. The next few weeks will test whether the AI trade can regain its footing without near-term public market validation from the sector's biggest names.
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